ROBERTO FIRMINO has escaped an FA charge after Mason Holgate accused him of a racist insult.
Striker Firmino, 26, has been the subject of a probe into “discrimination” over an insult directed at the Everton defender during Liverpool’s FA Cup third-round win on January 5.
As part of their investigation the FA took statements from 12 players from both sides as well as officials – with not one of them having heard the term allegedly used by Firmino.
During his FA interview, the Liverpool striker admitted he did insult Holgate in Portuguese but denied using “discriminatory language.”
An FA statement read: “The FA sought the assistance of a Brazilian/Portuguese linguistic specialist on the words alleged.
“In addition to this, we also obtained multiple angles of video footage, including broadcast and unseen footage showing the incident, which was assessed by two independent Portuguese speaking lip reading experts.
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ROBERTO FIRMINO STATEMENT
As difficult as it has been to remain publicly silent, given the serious and damaging nature of what it was claimed I said during the game, I did so to demonstrate my respect for the process and to allow the issue to be investigated in the most thorough way.
It is critical for football that tackling racism and all forms of discrimination is taken extremely seriously. As someone who has experienced racist abuse during my life, I know how damaging and hurtful it can be.
Now the process is concluded, I would like to place on record, for the avoidance of any doubt, I did not say the word, or a variation of the word, that was claimed and subsequently reported in the media. I did not use any language that referenced race. I did not – and would never – reference a person’s skin colour or culture, by means of insult, during a dispute or an argument.
There is no place for discrimination on a football pitch, or anywhere else in life for that matter.
I am pleased after exhaustive reviews of all the evidence, in this specific incident, the matter is resolved.
“The evidence obtained from the experts did not support the allegation.”
Holgate and Firmino were praised for their “assistance, professionalism and full cooperation” during the probe.
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Former Barnsley starlet Holgate, 21, complained referee Robert Madley at the time before the incident was referred to the FA after being formally reported to match officials.
The statement added: “We are completely satisfied that the allegation was made in absolute good faith by Holgate and that there is no suggestion of this being an intentionally false or malicious allegation.”
